Also known as: Kalika · Mahakali · Bhadrakali · Dakshina Kali
Kali is the dark mother — the goddess of time, death, and the dissolution of the ego, whose terror is also her tenderness.
Tradition
Shakta / Tantric
Domain
Time · Destruction of ego · Liberation · Maternal fierceness
Sacred day
Tuesday and the new moon
Sacred colors
Black, Red
Number of arms (typical)
4
Consort
Shiva
The story
During the battle with the demon Raktabija — whose every drop of blood spilled on the ground became another demon — Durga, in fury, burst forth as Kali. She drank Raktabija's blood before it could touch the earth, and slew his every replicate. Drunk with battle, she danced so violently that the cosmos itself trembled. Shiva lay down in her path; when she stepped on him and saw whom she had trampled, her tongue lolled out in shock and embarrassment, halting her dance — the moment captured in every Kali murti. To the tantric tradition, Kali is the most direct of the goddesses: she does not promise comfort, she promises liberation through annihilation of the false self.
Iconography
Pitch-black or dark-blue skin; lolling red tongue; garland of severed heads; girdle of severed arms; standing on the prone body of Shiva; four-armed, holding sword, severed head, and the gestures of fearlessness and boon-giving.
Mantras
ॐ क्रीं कालिकायै नमः
Om Krim Kalikayai Namah
Salutations to Kali — the bija mantra Krim is her seed sound.
Recommended count: 108
Festivals
Kali Puja
Kartika Amavasya (Oct-Nov) — same night as Diwali
Celebrated on the new moon of Kartika, particularly grand in Bengal.
Recommended practices
- Visit a Kali temple (or set up a home altar) on Tuesday nights of the dark fortnight when facing existential fear or major ego-attachment.
- Light a ghee lamp on Diwali night with a black-thread wick.
Scriptural references
- · Devi Mahatmya
- · Mahanirvana Tantra
- · Kalika Purana